KOREA’S TRANSFORMATION

GRADES: 8-10 AUTHOR: Sharon Parker

SUBJECT: History

TIME REQUIRED: One class period

OBJECTIVES & STANDARDS:

1. Understand and analyze factors and reasons for the growth and the rise of South

Korea post 1960.

2. Explain and evaluate if these factors can be used as a model for other less

developed countries.

3. Evaluate the strengths and potential of South Korea.

National Council of Social Studies:

2 Time, Continuity, and Change

5 Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

6 Power, Authority, and Governance

7 Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Common Core Standards:

RH 2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source

RH 7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis with qualitative analysis in print

or digital text

SL 1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

Handout 1: Student worksheet

Handout 2: Station #1 document: Statistics of the Labor Force and Occupational

Distribution

Handout 3: Station #2 images and trade statistics

Handout 4: Station #3 document on education

Handout 5: Station #4 document on government

Handout 6: Reflection article

Markers or colored pencils for Station #4 (optional)

BACKGROUND or INTRODUCTION:

After the Korean War, South Korea was devastated and was one of the poorest countries

in the world. In the 1960’s South Korea’s national wealth was on par with Afghanistan’s

and today is one of the world’s richest nations. In August 2010 Newsweek ranked South

Korea as the 15th

best country in the world.

PROCEDURE:

This lesson is designed to function as learning stations. Four “stations” or groups are set

up in the room and students rotate through each station. Students may work together to

answer questions, analyze information and make conclusions.

The documents for each of the four stations should be copied in order for each student to

view when they arrive and move to a station. Every student should receive a student

worksheet. The worksheet can be expanded to leave room for student responses. Station

number two requires students to analyze visual images. These would be viewed best as a

PowerPoint but the images can be printed. Station four requests a visual interpretation of

the document but this can also be changed if written answers are preferred. The average

amount of time at each station is approximately 8-10 minutes.

After all rotations are complete, the information should be reviewed and clarified through

a teacher led class discussion. Following this, students should complete the final

reflection section and this can also be shared in a class discussion or be used as a follow

up assignment.

EVALUATION or ASSESSMENT:

The oral discussion serves as the evaluation. The reflection questions can be discussed in

class or expanded into a homework or larger research assignment.

RESOURCES:

Clark, Donald N. Culture and Customs of Korea, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.

Kim, Hyuk-Rae. “The Contour of Modern Korean Society: National Projects and

Revolving Axes.” Presentation, Korean Studies Workshop, Seoul, Korea, July 7

2010.

Kim, Hyungkee. “Economic Development of Korea.” Presentation, Korean Studies

Workshop, Seoul, Korea, July 17,2010.

“Obama Lauds Korea’s Education of Children”. Korea Times. 11 March, 2009.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/01/113_41066.html

“Politics in Korea”. AsianInfo. http://asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/politics.htm

“The Best Countries in the World”. Newsweek, August 23,2010

Handout 1: Student Worksheet

Station #1: Statistics of Labor Force and Occupational Distribution

Review and analyze the two tables. List three specific changes that occurred and three

points you find surprising.

Station #2: Images and Trade Statistics

Review and analyze the pictures. List and explain at least three impressions of Korea.

Analyze the overview of the Korean Economy. Pick two points that impress you.

Station #3: Education

Read the document on education. List the similarities and differences between Korean

education and American education.

Station #4: Government

Read the summary on Korea’s government. Draw your interpretation of the Korean

government.

What type of economic policies would this government support?

Reflection:

What are the strengths of South Korea?

What lessons can other least developed countries learn from Korea’s transformation?

Read the article and comments by President Obama. Why is he praising the Korean

educational system and what other current issues may have prompted him to look to

Korea as a model for the US?

Handout 2: Station 1: Statistics of Labor Force and Occupational Distribution

Handout 3: Station #2: Images and Trade Statistics

Seoul

Busan Port

Hyundai

Samsung

Olympics 1988

An Overview of the Korean Economy

Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $1.3 billion in 1953,but reached $1344.4

billion ranking 13th largest in the world.

Korea has set a miracle in the history of world economics.

Per capita GDP of the Korean Economy will be number two in 2050 in the world

(Goldman Sachs Estimation)

Major Economic Indicators

• GNI per capita: 27,839(2008) US $ (No.

• 21 in the world)

• Export: 373.6 billion US $ (2009)

• Import: 317.5 billion US $ (2009)

• Top shipbuilder (the country’s shipbuilders produced about 35.2 percent of all

container ships built worldwide in 2005).

• Top memory chip producer in the world.

• One of the top producers of cell phones and LCD TVs.

• The country also manufactured 3.7 million cars in 2005, ranking as the fifth

largest carmaker in the world. And there were 15 million cars registered as of

2005, meaning that nine out of ten families have a car

• Korean goods account for 2.7% of total goods sold annually throughout the

world.

• There are only 10 countries that have surpassed this landmark.

Handout 4: Station #3 Education

Handout 5: Station #4: Government

Korea's Government

The year 1998 marks the fiftieth anniversary of both the adoption of the Constitution and

the establishment of the Republic of Korea. As a constitutionally based, democratic

government is still relatively young, debates regarding major government changes, like

the adoption of a parliamentary system, are still ongoing. Prior to the establishment of

the Republic in 1948, Korea experienced thirty-five year of Japanese colonial rule (1910-

1945) followed by three years of American military rule (1945-1948). The Japanese

annexation of Korea in 1910 placed Korea under a foreign rule for the first time in its

history.

Since its transformation into a republic, the Korean government, except for a brief period

between August 1960 and July 1961 when a parliamentary system was in place, has

maintained a presidential system, wherein the President is the head of state and chief

executive. Under the present system, government power is shared principally by three

branches: the legislative, judicial and executive. In addition, two other constitutionally-

based institutions, the Constitutional Court and the National Election Commission, also

perform governing functions.

The legislature consists of a single-house National Assembly, whose 299 members serve

four-year terms. The organizational components of the National Assembly are: the

individual members, the presiding officers (the Speaker and two Vice Speakers), the

plenary, the committees (16 standing committees as well as special ad hoc committees),

the negotiation groups, and the supporting administrative organs. Besides deliberating

bills concerning general legislation, government budget, and ratification of international

treaties, the National Assembly is also empowered to inspect and audit the

administration, and to approve the appointments of the Prime Minister and the Director of

the Board of Inspection and Audit. The National Assembly may, according to law,

impeach public officials, and may adopt motions recommending to the President the

removal of executive officials, including the Prime Minister.

The judiciary consists of three tiers of courts: the Supreme Court; the high courts or

appellate courts; the district courts. Currently, the judiciary is exclusively a central

government function; no provincial or local government may establish its own court or

prosecution system. The Supreme Court consists of thirteen Justices and a Chief Justice.

High courts are placed in five locations which serve as regional centers. Besides the

three-tier court system, the judiciary also operates a family court, an administrative court

and a patent court.

The executive branch, headed by the President, consists of the Prime Minister, the State

Council, seventeen executive ministries, seventeen independent agencies, the Board of

Inspection and Audit, and the National Intelligence Service. The President, elected by

popular vote for a single five-year term, has absolute power needed for operating the

executive branch and leading the country. The Prime Minister, appointed by the

President with the approval of the National Assembly, supervises the ministries and

independent agencies. The Prime Minister performs this function under the supervision

of the President, and in this sense he/she is the chief assistant to the President.

Local governments are considered part of the executive branch and thus are controlled by

the central government. (Here "local governments" refers broadly to all sub-national

governments.) However, some degree of local autonomy has been given to the 16

higher-level (provincial) governments and 34 lower level (municipal) governments. This

autonomy resumed, after a time lapse of more than thirty years, on July 1, 1995 - a date

marking a return to direct, popular elections for local chief executives. Prior to this, local

governments had been simply local branches of the central government, with the latter

appointing and dispatching the chiefs. Despite the change, the autonomous power of

local governments at this point remains quite limited. Virtually all major policies,

including those specifying local government functions, taxation, resident welfare and

services, and personnel management, are determined by the central government.

http://asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/politics.htm

Handout 6: Reflection Article

Obama Lauds Korea’s Education of Children

U.S. President Barack Obama

Tuesday called for the United States

to look to South Korea in adopting

longer school days and after-school

programs for American children to

help them survive in an era of keen

global competition, according to

Yonhap News Agency Wednesday.

"Our children _ listen to this _ our

children spend over a month less in

school than children in South Korea every year," Obama told a

gathering at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here. "That's no

way to prepare them for a 21st-century economy."

Obama made the remarks while emphasizing the need for sweeping

reform of the U.S. education system for which he earmarked $41

billion out of the $787 billion stimulus package to cope with the worst

recession in decades.

"We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed for when

America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home

plowing the land at the end of each day," he said. "That calendar may

have once made sense, but today it puts us at a competitive

disadvantage."

The U.S. president called for Americans "not only to expand effective

after-school programs but to rethink the school day to incorporate

more time, whether it's during the summer or through expanded-day

programs for children who need it."

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/01/113_41066.html